Security FAQ's
What's
security for?
Internet
security technology was developed to ensure private and authenticated
communications (called SSL, short for Secure Sockets Layer
protocol) is built into browsers and commerce servers to protect
your Internet communications with:
•
Server authentication (thwarting impostors)
•
Privacy using encryption (thwarting eavesdroppers)
•
Data integrity (thwarting vandals)
To
what degree can SSL security protect me?
With
SSL technology, the information you send can be trusted to
arrive privately and unaltered to the server you specify (and
no other).
How
can I tell when security is in effect?
Secure
documents are identified quickly. You can tell whether a document
comes from a secure server by looking at the location (URL)
field. If the URL begins with https:// (instead of http://),
the document comes from a secure server.
Also,
most popular browsers will display an icon such as a key or
a padlock at the bottom when you are using a secure server.
It is standard practice to gather the data on an unsecured
form and then "go secure" when this form is submitted (transmitted
across data lines).
Can
I safely transmit credit card numbers?
You
can enter your credit card number on a secure (https) page
and transmit the page over the Internet to a secure Commerce
Server without risk of an intermediary obtaining your credit
card information. The security features offered by SSL technology
protect commercial transactions, as well as all other communications,
from misappropriation and fraud that could otherwise occur
as information passes through Internet computers.
This
process is actually a more secure way of conducting business
than handing your card to an unknown server at a restaurant
for example, thereby leaving paper receipts floating
around.
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